More than 7,000 guns off the streets of LA

RANCHO CACAMONGO, Calif. (STORYFUL) - Los Angeles County may be a little safer this weekend. The sheriff's department there melted down thousands of guns as part of its 23rd annual gun destruction event.

Thursday, they took 7,044 weapons that had been confiscated by law enforcement throughout Los Angeles County and melted them down at Gerdau Steel Mill in Rancho Cacamongo, California.

Under state law, the guns cannot be sold to the public or returned to their owners, which is why they're destroyed.

According to the sheriff's department, the weapons were converted into steel-reinforced bar, which is used in construction for upgrades to freeways and bridges in Arizona, California and Nevada.

Over 23 years, the sheriff department has melted down 19,840 pounds of firearms.